It takes large volumes of water to grow rice, but old habits have to change in a world running short of water. Rice farmers in Thailand are adopting a new method, System of Rice Intensification (SRI), to achieve more crop with less seeds and water -- but without damaging the environment. It involves using mulch, inter-cropping and transplanting rice earlier than usual.
Returning 18 months later to the first point on Sri Lanka the Asian Tsunami hit, we find local people busy building a coastal greenbelt. The area is also being re-greened through home gardens and organic farming.
Unable to find any clean water, Ghanian farmers living close to cities use heavily polluted waste water to grow vegetables. Researchers are looking for ways to minimise health problems arising from such produce. One method: reduce contact between contaminants and vegetables. But producing clean food involves raising awareness among farmers, sellers and consumers.
For decades, the people of Jaring Halus managed their own mangrove forest using traditional methods. Now the government has asked them to co-manage mangroves in a nearby wildlife sanctuary -- a first for Indonesia.
At the Johannesburg 'Sustainable Development Summit,' governments made commitments to involve their citizens in decision-making. Are they keeping their promises? We go to four countries at very different stages of development to find that citizens' associations are making themselves heard.
Dozens of interlinked small reservoirs provide water for household use, crops, cattle and wild animals in the Sao Francisco River Basin. But most users don't see beyond their local stream and reservoir, leading to upstream-downstream tensions. Researchers are now working on better ways to share limited water supplies, while empowering people to take greater control over their resources.
Digital Divide Data (DDD) trains disadvantaged youth in computer skills and English, and employs them for data-processing work outsourced from the West. We visit their headquarters in Phnom Penh to discovery how it works.
